Detective Pikachu's Villain (Major Spoilers)

Ah, Ryme City:  A beautiful place where people partner with Pokémon to create a utopia for all beings.  The city is the idea of Howard Clifford, CEO of a huge corporation and creator of advanced hologram technology.  Mr. Clifford has a degenerative disease and uses a wheelchair because of it.

But, someone has nefarious plans for the people and Pokémon of our lovely haven.  Who would destroy something so amazing?  Howard Clifford, of course!  Why?  Because human minds taking over Pokémon bodies is the next step in evolution.  He has found a cure for human frailty.  He has found a cure for his disease.
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Howard wants a cure with such intensity, he's willing to destroy everything (even his relationship with his son).  We don't know how long he's had his disease, how it impacts him (besides the wheelchair), how old he is, or what his prognosis is.  Without more information, all we get from the screenwriters is some variation of "disability bad, must fix".  I'm honestly tired of seeing a "cure" as one of the only outcomes a disabled character could desire.

Howard is rich.  He has a whole city designed by him, a team of scientists under his command, technology most folks only dream of, and people who adore him.  He spent so much money, his scientists discovered a way to merge humans into Pokémon (that couldn't be cheap).  Was it truly easier than them finding a pill to slow the disease or an injection to reverse it?  I have doubts.

If Howard wanted to heal, why drag everyone else into his scheme?  He didn't just try to transform the disabled, the elderly, or the dying into Pokémon... his plan included everyone.  The vague mention of "evolving" isn't an answer I accept.  Maybe he could control people if they were Pokémon because he transferred his mind into the greatest Pokémon ever (Mewtwo).  But, world domination is an entirely different motive.

Was he a good person before he wound up in a wheelchair?  The movie doesn't say.  Maybe Howard was a bastard his entire adult life (his son is a good person, so maybe the mom raised him).  The only thing we really know is that he's absolutely desperate for a cure, so I would think it's the disease driving him to unscrupulous acts.  Disability made him into someone else... an evil someone else.
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The game the movie is based on has a different antagonist.  Howard Clifford could merely be a poor attempt to subvert the audience's expectations.  However, with Hollywood only giving out a few worn-out tropes to cripples, we can't say the bitter, desperate-not-to-be-a-gimp villain was a genuine surprise.  At least the Pokémon were cute.

Me Before You Role Reversal (SPOILERS)

The disabled community is abuzz with talk of Hollywood's next tearjerker, Me Before You.  Many disabled people and our allies are pissed over many aspects of this film/book.  And they're not wrong, it is exceedingly problematic on various levels.

A short synopsis:  A wealthy quadriplegic man wants to commit suicide because he doesn't think his life is worth anything, anymore.  A cute, able-bodied woman in need of some money is hired for six months to be the man's caretaker (and is on secret suicide watch).  When the woman finds out the man wants to kill himself, she endeavors to make his life worth living and tries to change his mind.  They fall in love, but he still kills himself and leaves her money so she never has to be without anything again.

The general public is raving about this story.  They say it's heartfelt, touching.  He, they tout, made her life so much better, and so much more meaningful.
"But there really are disabled people who want to kill themselves and feel useless," fans will say to defend this garbage.  They're right.  But...

What if the roles were reversed?  What if our young, lithe heroine was the one who didn't want to live anymore?  What if our disabled hero had to show her everything life had to offer within six months, or she would kill herself?  What if after courtship, conversations, friendship, she decided to kill herself anyway?  What if she were the one to set him up for life to pursue any dream he possessed?  He, the character the story constantly says (in one way or another) shouldn't enjoy life or want to live a long time.

I bet the majority of the defenders of this book/film would be screaming their heads off.  "Why didn't she get help?  Why didn't her family step in? Why didn't love save her or make her want to live?"
It wouldn't make sense for them, you see.  A young, able-bodied person's life is so full of promise and hope.  It becomes a tragedy for it to end.  A disabled person is a burden, a half life.  A light in the process of already being extinguished.

The vast majority of the audience for this would rather be dead than disabled like the hero, at least that's what they think.  And why wouldn't they think that?  If all Hollywood and the publishing industry is going to show us is burden, loss, sadness in the realm of disability, it is only going to reinforce the negative connotations of disability fermenting in most people's minds.

And don't get me started on the fact that the couple doesn't have sex!